How can a JW say that?

by TD 26 Replies latest jw friends

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  palmtree67

  TD:

  We are kept too busy to have either the time or the inclination to think for ourselves. So when the GB does the thinking for us and hands it to us on a silver platter we just accept it. We don't have time to do anything else.

  Also, we are trained to not trust our own thinking or our own thoughts and motivations. If there's something we don't understand or agree with, the problem is always with US. We are too spiritually weak or too involved with the world or not studying enough....etc to be able to grasp the deeper and vastly superior understandings of the GB.

  We are constantly told that doubts are a sign of sinfulness, so we push any doubts out of our mind and refuse to acknowledge them.
• 

  OUTLAW

  I was raised in it..

  "Believe or Else"..

  "or Else" was never fun..

  ....................... ...OUTLAW
• 

  LostGeneration

  I guess as far as going in FS for converts I viewed it as an inconvenient necessity. Sure I wanted to live in a paradise, but I sure hated door knocking and selling religion. I often shook my head in disbelief as examples were trotted out at assemblies of people who "loved" going in service. Were they serious? Did they really like doing that? What is wrong with me, why do I hate doing it?

  Of course as a someone who didnt enjoy it I never developed many RV's or Bible studies, so I cant really comment on why I thought others should convert. Probably in the back of my mind I thought people would have to be a bit crazy to convert, because that would mean going out in FS!

  Seeing how much time witnesses spend in FS with zero results made me start to question the truth. If its the "TRUTH" they wouldn't it be wildly successful?
• 

  yknot

  What was the basis for expecting others to believe that it was the truth? Were they supposed to believe it simply because you did? Or were they supposed to believe it because the facts when objectively examined overwhelmingly supported that conclusion to the point where only a dishonest person would deny it?

  In my own experience....

  Because the it was the troof!

  As dispensationalist we understood ourselves to be living in the endtimes; so Jehovah's provision of the Org/FDS as part of the harvest gathering seemed factual ...... those who were alert to bible prophecy and discerned the imminent destruction of this system of things would naturally heed the call to gather under Jehovah's tent similar to those who heeded the call to flee Jerusalem.
• 

  Chalam

  Great post TD :)

  Here is the biblical definition of faith

  Hebrews 11:1 (New International Version)

  1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

  I agree in one sense with your view, for JWs it is all about studying the publications, simply following words of the WT and such. It is more of an equation, somthing like WT+NWT="jehovah".

  That said, on the other hand they do have faith in the unseen "god" the WT preach and teach.

  From my own faith I say with certainty this is a false god and the "jehovah" JWs are waiting on will certainly not deliver.

  With the one single, isolated and relatively rare example of the heavenly calling, there are no spiritual experiences in the Witness religion either.

  That is an excellent point and one I have always felt when dealing with JWs. God is by definition, supernatural Genesis 1:3 and spiritual John 4:24

  If one really claims to know God, one must see something of His supernatural power and have a spiritual experience of Him every now and again.

  1 Corinthians 2:4 (New International Version)

  4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power

  Mark 16:17-18 (New International Version)

  17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

  John 14:12 (New International Version)

  12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

  I am afraid that the WT sheep are clearly described here

  2 Timothy 3:5 (New International Version)

  5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

  Happy Christmas :)

  Blessings,

  Stephen
• 

  Nathan Natas

  I was raised a JW. I was taught that if we got a convert, that was nice, but the main reason for our "ministry" was to let people know that Armageddon was coming. Many times I was told that it was perfectly OK if not a single individual responded positively to the message we brought. The important thing was that we brought it.

  This motivation is VERY different from the "kind but misguided" motive most people THINK is the reason JWs are knocking on your door.
• 

  geevee

  I think that going out in the f/s was a way of showing ones "faith" regardless of whether you made a convert or not. I generally hoped that in all reality I did NOT meet someone who wanted to take it any further and study the beliefs. It was more convienient to just do my time from door to door and leave it at that. I had too much else to do, let alone study with someone.

  I had an episode where I studied up on THE DRAGNET and what it meant in a parable of jesus. I then studied through all the wt stuff and none of the former applications made any sense in relation to the change of the generation stuff. I ran it past a c/o and others and they agreed that it made no sense, but didn't want to think about it lest it spoil their faith. I had to trust in jah, wait upom him, stay loyal to christ's brothers.... I bet if i got the latest wt cd and looked it all up again, it would NOT have changed even now.

  Thin end of the wedge!!!!!
• 

  palmtree67

  Geez. Read our responses here. No wonder we were all depressed.
• 

  TD

  Thanks again everyone!

  Nathan Nates made an observation:

  I was raised a JW. I was taught that if we got a convert, that was nice, but the main reason for our "ministry" was to let people know that Armageddon was coming. Many times I was told that it was perfectly OK if not a single individual responded positively to the message we brought. The important thing was that we brought it.

  For JW's, is the belief in the imminence of Armageddon primarily a "Proof-based" or a "Faith-based" proposition? In other words, is it primarily an unvarnished assertion that one accepts on that basis or does it rest on scriptural proof-texts and time calculations? The reason I ask is because my impression from JW literature might be very different from reality.

  On what basis is the "Householder" at the door expected to accept this proposition? Does the JW in effect say, "Armageddon is coming soon because we say it is" or do they present this conclusion as the end point of a logical argument?
• 

  undercover

  On what basis is the "Householder" at the door expected to accept this proposition? Does the JW in effect say, "Armageddon is coming soon because we say it is" or do they present this conclusion as the end point of a logical argument?

  My experience says that it was presented initially to people based on logical conclusions...which presented a conundrum in that we primarily accepted the notion based on faith more than on logical conclusion ourselves, especially those of us raised in it from birth or young childhood. And like Nathan said, converting people wasn't as important as warning them. Our responsibility was to preach...we couldn't make people listen.

  But if we found a willing ear and were "bringing someone into the 'truth' ", then the import became more faith based over the time they studied and they slowly became indoctrinated to accept it because "the Society says so" and not because the logical argument proved us correct.